In today's computer industry, the Advanced Configuration and Power Interface (ACPI) specification was developed to establish industry common interfaces enabling robust operating system (OS)-directed motherboard device configuration and power management of devices and entire systems. ACPI is the key element in OS-directed configuration and power management (OSPM). The OSPM concepts serve well in personal computer power management in which power management decisions are made by the OS of a personal computer. In a distributed computing system including multiple computers, the OS of an individual computer cannot effectively make power management decisions because the OS is only capable of gathering power management information within this individual computer. As a result, in a distributed computing system, all client machines are typically fully powered on and stay in working state, regardless of whether there are any jobs running on the individual client machines.